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Old 12-01-2016, 01:00 PM   #13
BandB
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City: Fort Lauderdale. Florida, USA
Join Date: Jan 2014
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The tale of Chicken Little isn't well enough known today. (Henny Penny in some parts of the world).

My father use to talk of times in the early 60's when everyone thought the end was near. From building bomb shelters in their basements to hoarding. He had one client who decided the banking system would collapse again and we'd have another great depression so kept all he had in the form of silver in his large safe in his home. He was convinced when it happened, that would somehow save him. My father told him it would take him a wheelbarrow load of silver to go buy some food, that if he really thought the collapse was coming, then he should become a farmer as they'd be the only ones prepared.

There are businesses that operated on those beliefs. Sewell Avery of Montgomery Ward believed the collapse was coming so he stopped opening new stores. He wouldn't even pay for painting the existing ones. His fantasy was that when the depression came, he'd have cash and buy all the others, especially Sears. Needless to say that didn't work out and it was several years and litigation and government involvement before he was removed from running the company.

People can get so focused on preparing for the worst, that they lose sight of the present and reality. It's so easy today, looking around the world, to fear collapse or doom or terrorism or war worldwide. While i do believe in prudent planning, I don't plan for the worst. I realized long ago, being a pessimist was a losing cause. My wife, the eternal optimist, sure helps there.

If I was going to obsess over hurricanes, I couldn't live where I do. The same way, I'm careful not to obsess over the possible worst outcomes for the world.
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